4 Steps to Move from Insights to Action

This post is presented by Marketing Pilgrim’s Analytics Channel Sponsor WebTrends. It was written by Stephen Eide, Training + Development Specialist at Webtrends.

If you’re like most digital marketers, you track a set of website metrics—measurements such as site visits, time on site, referring sites and the all-important purchases, conversions or downloads. While tracking and reporting on these metrics is fairly straightforward, do you know how to use them to make improvements?

While it can be challenging to move from reporting on results to driving action, it’s a critical transition. It can help transform your organization and put you on the path to marketing glory.

Here are four steps to get you started:

Step 1: Focus on Results
For each metric that you track, brainstorm what you can do to move that number. If you’re measuring customer loyalty, what actions can be taken to improve that? If you’re measuring how often people complete a form, what methods will help you drive traffic to the form? Make sure that your metrics align to the all up goals of your organization.

Step 2: Develop a Plan
You now have a list of performance indicators tied to possible actions. Any metric that doesn’t have an action tied to it should be dropped. Compile your list of actions into a comprehensive plan and prioritize based on resource availability and potential impact. While all these theoretical actions are nice, who is actually going to do them?

Step 3: Build Your Team
That leads to your next step: build your team. To get the job done, you will likely need to enroll people from other teams who have the necessary skills to complete certain tasks. Figure out who those people are and assemble them around a common goal. For example, you may need to collaborate with someone from the IT department to optimize your landing page. Initiate discussion among your peers to determine what is feasible for your new team to accomplish.

Step 4: Execute
Finally, work with your team on implementing the plan. Meet regularly to discuss results and address any barriers with stakeholders. Review your plan frequently and check for alignment between results and business goals.

A little planning goes a long way. By starting with a list of actionable goals, you avoid wasting time on metrics that won’t move the needle.